Covid cases up in J&K but UT self-reliant on oxygen: Officials

NEW DELHI: Jammu & Kashmir, which is witnessing a rise in Covid cases as part of the nationwide Covid surge, has added 27 oxygen generation plants in the last six months as part of its efforts to ramp up its medical infrastructure and preparedness.
Ten more plants will be added this month and another 40 by July, taking the total number of plants in the Union Territory to 94. This, according to a senior J&K government officer, will help the UT maintain its “atmanirbhar” or self-reliant status when it comes to meeting the oxygen requirements of its residents during the pandemic.
“Even though new cases in J&K touched 3,614 on May 10, not a single complaint has been received from any patient or hospital regarding lack of medical oxygen. This earns J&K the rare distinction of being a completely self-reliant or ‘atmanirbhar’ UT in terms of oxygen supplies, even as UTs like Delhi deal with an oxygen crisis and and must largely depend on the Centre, other states and even other countries to meet their heightened demand for medical oxygen on account of the surge in Covid cases,” said an official.
An officer told TOI that even prior to the second wave, when cases in J&K were very low, J&K L-G Manoj Sinha ensured that oxygen generation plants sanctioned by the Centre were set up.